Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Getting Tense for U.S. Troops in Iraq

Aired July 08, 2003 - 05:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is getting tense for U.S. troops in Iraq following a series of deadly attacks. The night can be particularly precarious.
As CNN's Jane Arraf reports, the soldiers don't just know what to expect as they patrol the streets of Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To a young American soldier, this is what Baghdad looks and feels like at night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They usually like go crazy and stuff. So many people around just calling your name. The only thing that they say is mister. It's like the movies, you know?

ARRAF: They have night scopes to help them see in the dark. But seeing isn't everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to pull up to the right, stop the engine, turn off the lights and just listen to the environment.

ARRAF: On one street, exuberant children. On another, gunfire. They don't know whether it's aimed at thieves or at them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey! Halt! Don't fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He says shoot me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just tell him to make sure that it's -- don't shoot at American soldiers, all right? They've got the right...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's OK. It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am sorry. I am so sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK.

ARRAF: In Baghdad now, even many of the people with weapons are afraid, afraid of the soldiers, but too afraid of the night to give up their weapons. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was about 10 seconds away from getting shot.

ARRAF: The soldiers, mostly young and all very far from home, are afraid, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) you get a call, like there's a burning building (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) that might be a (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) Fedayeen ambush. No matter what they just, you know, those people just hate Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they don't give a (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to have, you know, just -- they don't want Americans around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you know, what do you do?

ARRAF: What they do is try to protect themselves without antagonizing the neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

ARRAF (on camera): In these Baghdad streets at night, you just don't know what you're going to find. It could be kids waiting to say hello or it could be guns around the corner.

(voice-over): Even with their half million dollar thermal imaging that lets them spot people from miles away, they're still vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Night vision is, you know, good, but only up to a point.

ARRAF: They try to get to know the neighborhoods. But with the cultural and language barrier, they miss an awful lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I just wanted to see if he was OK, you know?

ARRAF: They assume Abdul Lahur (ph) is drunk. But he's not drunk, he's alone. His friends say his mother, his brother, his nephew and two uncles were killed by helicopter fire during the battle for Baghdad. He says it's true. "I would prefer Saddam Hussein over this kind of life," he tells us.

The soldiers would much prefer not to be here. They continue to patrol.

Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OSBORN: Well, you can follow the latest developments from Iraq on our Web site. The address is cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 8, 2003 - 05:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is getting tense for U.S. troops in Iraq following a series of deadly attacks. The night can be particularly precarious.
As CNN's Jane Arraf reports, the soldiers don't just know what to expect as they patrol the streets of Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To a young American soldier, this is what Baghdad looks and feels like at night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They usually like go crazy and stuff. So many people around just calling your name. The only thing that they say is mister. It's like the movies, you know?

ARRAF: They have night scopes to help them see in the dark. But seeing isn't everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to pull up to the right, stop the engine, turn off the lights and just listen to the environment.

ARRAF: On one street, exuberant children. On another, gunfire. They don't know whether it's aimed at thieves or at them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey! Halt! Don't fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He says shoot me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just tell him to make sure that it's -- don't shoot at American soldiers, all right? They've got the right...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's OK. It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am sorry. I am so sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK.

ARRAF: In Baghdad now, even many of the people with weapons are afraid, afraid of the soldiers, but too afraid of the night to give up their weapons. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was about 10 seconds away from getting shot.

ARRAF: The soldiers, mostly young and all very far from home, are afraid, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) you get a call, like there's a burning building (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) that might be a (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) Fedayeen ambush. No matter what they just, you know, those people just hate Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they don't give a (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to have, you know, just -- they don't want Americans around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you know, what do you do?

ARRAF: What they do is try to protect themselves without antagonizing the neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

ARRAF (on camera): In these Baghdad streets at night, you just don't know what you're going to find. It could be kids waiting to say hello or it could be guns around the corner.

(voice-over): Even with their half million dollar thermal imaging that lets them spot people from miles away, they're still vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Night vision is, you know, good, but only up to a point.

ARRAF: They try to get to know the neighborhoods. But with the cultural and language barrier, they miss an awful lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I just wanted to see if he was OK, you know?

ARRAF: They assume Abdul Lahur (ph) is drunk. But he's not drunk, he's alone. His friends say his mother, his brother, his nephew and two uncles were killed by helicopter fire during the battle for Baghdad. He says it's true. "I would prefer Saddam Hussein over this kind of life," he tells us.

The soldiers would much prefer not to be here. They continue to patrol.

Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OSBORN: Well, you can follow the latest developments from Iraq on our Web site. The address is cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com